What is the view of child abuse? I struggle with that question. I’ve found that child abuse survivors are viewed as damaged goods. I see pity in people’s eyes. I say, don’t see me and my ordeal—understand that there are children out there right this second that are undergoing the same kind of ordeal. Young, dead bodies discarded like trash by the side of the road or on beaches… See them and know that they’ve been released. Children are toys—property of the adults who produce them. Not everybody plays nice with their toys.

I kept my eyes down as a child. I didn’t know the moon could be seen in the daylight sky until my 3-year-old son pointed it out to me. When he said, “moon”, and pointed up to the sky, I scoffed, then looked up and was amazed. There it was. At that moment, I realized I had…